The largest battleship fleets in history are heading towards each other, and the largest naval battle in history is about to begin!
Twenty-seven years later, almost all articles around the world describing this great naval battle would say the same thing.
But even those with the most vivid imaginations could not imagine how the war would begin.
On the night of November 17, as the reconnaissance airship discovered the traces of the Combined Fleet, the officers in the Imperial Navy became busy.
"Airship No. 503 sent a telegram, the main force of the Combined Fleet has entered the 332 Sea Area."
“This is exactly what we were looking forward to,”
The Vice Admiral stared at the map and said:
"Based on the current position of the fleet, let's see where they will encounter our fleet."
"Here, General."
A colonel staff officer then drew a black X on the chart.
"Sea Area 332, this is perfect for Plan 1. I hope we can achieve the mission objectives. Order the Jing Ke to attack."
…
Trindade and Martinvas Islands are the easternmost islands of the Empire, 1,150 kilometers away from the mainland. There are few people living here. As islands formed by submarine volcanic eruptions, both Trindade Island and Martinvas Islands have steep cliffs, towering rocks, exposed rocks, and rugged terrain. Only a few central mountains are covered with grass and low shrubs, and no trees grow. Because it is far away from the land and the land is desolate, no one has visited it for a long time. It was not until ten years ago that the Navy established a marine meteorological observation station here, but only dozens of naval meteorological officers and radio soldiers were stationed there.
However, eight years ago, as part of the war preparation plan, this desolate island, where even fresh water had to be transported from the mainland, came into the sight of the Imperial Navy.
In the 20th year of Shengde, the Imperial Navy engineering corps entered Trindade Island. After several years of hard work, they built as many as six torpedo boat hangars on the island with an area of only 10.3 square kilometers. Then it became a secret base of the navy.
In the past few years, only a very few people knew of its existence, and it was not until a month ago that the torpedo boat unit moved into the secret base and began training in nearby waters.
But, that's it.
The specifications of each torpedo boat cave on the island are very similar. There is a hidden waterway leading into the sea. The cave can accommodate six to ten torpedo boats!
Since the empire invented the torpedo boat, its tonnage has been only about 100 tons.
Although small, the torpedo boat is a formidable weapon for the enemy, and its torpedoes can even sink capital ships.
A single torpedo might be able to sink a battleship, if it could hit.
The vast majority of torpedo boats are steel-ribbed wooden hulled ships. Even in this era of armored ships, torpedo boats still insist on wooden hulls.
Why a wooden shell?
Because the wooden shell is light enough.
The structure of torpedo boats in various countries is similar. They are small boats equipped with two or three high-power gasoline engines and carry two to four torpedoes. In battle, the crew must rush to the side of the enemy warship with the determination to die together, and then quickly escape after launching the torpedoes. To succeed, they need not only courage but also luck.
In fact, for the Imperial Navy, the torpedo boat force was established in the early years because the navy was weak, so torpedoes were used as a trump card to play a role of surprise. However, with the commissioning of submarines, it seems that it is no longer necessary to establish and expand the torpedo boat force. Especially with the launch of powerful battleships, the navy seems to look down on torpedo boats.
But things are not absolute. In the 23rd year of Shengde, the Navy designed the most advanced torpedo boat of the era - the Type 23 torpedo boat. Although it was only 21 meters long and weighed only 60 tons, it had four high-power gasoline engines, which enabled it to reach a maximum speed of 38 knots, making it the fastest ship of the era.
Being smaller and faster means that the Type 23 torpedo boat can play a greater role in naval battles, but due to its limited tonnage it can only be used for near-shore defense. In fact, the mission of the torpedo boat is also near-shore combat. For the navy, the torpedo boat is actually a naval dagger, a dagger used for self-defense!
Although the gasoline engine used in the Type 23 torpedo boat makes the space in the speedboat's passenger cabin larger, the living conditions are actually very poor. When sailing, they can only stay in the cabin filled with the smell of gasoline for a while. When they go to the toilet, they can only squat on the side of the ship, holding the rope tightly to expose their buttocks to the sea. If a big wave comes, they will be in danger of falling into the sea if they don't hold on firmly.
Despite this, over the years, the sailors of the torpedo boat unit have been well aware of their mission - they are the modern-day Jing Ke!
The dagger is revealed, a modern-day Jing Ke who dares to rush towards the enemy ship with a dagger in hand.
Half a month ago, the Trindade base entered combat readiness, and all the torpedo boat soldiers were waiting for orders, waiting for the order to attack.
At 23:37 that evening, after the radio operator at the "Jingke Base" received the telegram, alarms sounded in six bunkers one after another. Amid the urgent alarms, the sailors rushed out of the cabins and onto their respective speedboats.
"All speedboats, prepare to attack..."
The sailors who jumped onto the deck pulled up the anchor at the same time. The windlass made a creaking sound, and the speedboat's four gasoline engines started one after another.
Then, one after another, the torpedo boats slowly sailed out of the cave. As the torpedo boats sailed out of the cave, the sea breeze caused huge waves that could swallow the boats and kept sweeping over. The boats were shaking back and forth. The officers standing in front of the compass on the boats held the pillars beside them with one hand and issued orders. If they let go, they might be swept into the sea.
These speedboat soldiers, wearing torpedo boat assault raincoats, just let the sea water hit their bodies. Although the waves blocked their vision, such weather put smiles on everyone's faces.
“It’s a nice day!”
As the waves hit him head on, Lin Xianyu spoke with a smile.
It was indeed good weather, for the waves concealed their movements.
As soon as he finished speaking, another big wave came!
In this way, the torpedo boats drilled in and out of the waves, and sometimes the propellers were exposed in mid-air, but the torpedo boats shuttled through the wind and waves without slowing down at all, and all looked like they were fighting for their lives.
"All teams speed up to 30 knots, target sea area 332!"
From the light signal sent by the first boat commanded by the captain, Lin Xianyu read the content of the signal: 332 Sea Area, which is... well, about four hours away from here. By the time they get there, it will be midnight.
Looking up at the dark clouds in the sky, the dark clouds blocked the stars and the moon. It was indeed a good day! Although the wind and waves were a bit strong, it was really a perfect night.
A perfect night for hunting.
"As long as they get within 300 meters, even if God comes to their rescue, they will be dead!"
Lin Xianyu thought so in his heart. In the past few decades, the torpedo boat unit had carried out countless night attack exercises. Facts have proved that as long as they are bold enough, there will be a chance to approach within 300 meters and carry out a torpedo strike.
That distance... is absolutely fatal! And it's the kind that kills with one strike!
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